sipping on hot apple cider
by chalantness
Summary: CLOSED. An autumn-themed meme to pass the time.
1. guidelines

**sipping on hot apple cider  
**_an autumn meme_

It's autumn, my favorite season! So in honor of it (and because I'm having writer's block for my current WIPs and am in need of a creative distraction), let's do a small meme?

**Duration:** September 22 to September 30  
**Prompting:** Leave a prompt that follows the guidelines AS A PRIVATE MESSAGE TO MY ACCOUNT

**Note: The filled entries will be posted as additional "chapters" to this post, so you might want to favorite or subscribe to keep track (:**

_Details_

- I would just like to reiterate my above statement about leaving prompts as private messages, because I would like the review count for this post to be actual reviews rather than just requests.  
- The "duration" above is for you guys submitting prompts _and_ for me filling them out, so get those prompts in as soon as possible if you'd like me to try 'em out!  
- My usual rules of no incest, no pedo, no threesome/moresomes, no slash.  
- Fills will be drabble-length, which (for me) is usually less than or around 1,000 words. But defininitely less than 1,500.

_About the Prompt_

- Pick an autumn-themed word, picture, activity, etc.  
- Leave a pairing or group of characters for me to write with.  
- Please avoid prompts with December holidays because I'll probably have another meme where those can be filled.  
- If you would like to stay away from a certain rating or have special conditions (like no swearing, etc.) then please let me know. If you don't say as much, I will assume that you are okay with any rating and with any colorful language that I choose to use.


	2. drabble 1

**Pairing:** Jaime/Cassie  
**Rating:** K+  
**Word C****ount:** 700+  
**Prompt:** jumping on piles of leaves  
**For:** yeahletsgowiththatone (on tumblr)

**Note:** My first Wonderbeetle! Yes, I do ship them, just obviously not as much as Conner/Casse (:

... ...

Black Canary convinces Batman into giving them the day off under the condition that they get out of the Cave and stretch their legs, and Cassie's definitely not complaining about that part. She loves fall, all of the pretty colors and the temperate weather and the excitement building up to the holidays. It's honestly the perfect season.

There's a farmer's market going on next to a little patch where they're selling pumpkins, and they have a few booths for games and food and kids' arts and crafts. It's cute.

She's leaning over to get a closer look at a pumpkin she kind of wants to carve when she hears someone call out, "Hey, you."

"Hey, Jaime."

He comes to stand beside her, nodding at the pumpkin. "You should get that one."

"I know," she says. "I want to. It's kind of huge, though. I mean, can I really carve the whole thing by myself?"

"That's a weird question coming from the girl who sent Conner through a wall yesterday," he laughs, and she blushes. Conner had just laughed and said it was fun, but _gosh_, sometimes it's really embarrassing being so strong.

"Why'd you have to remind me?" she huffs.

He grins. "Why do you sound ashamed? Not just _anyone_ can take on Conner."

Which, _yes_, is true, but when someone as cute as Conner acts like you're _one of the guys_ it's not exactly great on a girl's self-esteem. It's not like she really _likes _him like that, and he's still got weird feelings for Megan that confuses all of them, but sometimes she wonders if she'll ever have a chance. Guys don't want to date a girl who's stronger than them, right?

She wishes she were more like Diana. She's beautiful _and_ she can take down anyone she wants, and the guys in the League definitely don't see her as just another dude.

"I'm such a _guy_," she moans.

Jaime looks amused. "Trust me, you're not."

"But I _am_."

"Fine, you are!" he says, and then laughs when she glares at him.

"You're so mean, Jaime," she tells him, shoving his shoulder. Except, she must've shoved harder than she thought or maybe Jaime is just that light (seriously, he's _skinny_ and eats all the time and it's so _unfair_), because he somehow ends up in a pile of leaves a few feet from the path.

Oops.

"Jaime!" She glances around to make sure no one saw that—no one's even looking in their direction—before running up to him. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"Jeez, Cassie, I'm _fine_. Chill out," he says, shifting to sit more upright. She frowns. "Seriously, the leaves broke my fall. I think I'm alive."

She rolls her eyes at that. "See? This is _exactly_ what I meant! I'm such a—_ah!_"

She feels something tug at her wrist, and her world kind of rushes around her as she's sent into another pile of leaves. She pushes her hair from her face to find Jaime still on his pile beside hers, laughing at her obviously stunned expression, and she notices his sleeve fall a little to reveal a bit of blue underneath.

"No _wonder_ you were able to throw me!" she exclaims accusingly, but she's laughing now, too. She can't remember the last time she jumped in piles of leaves.

Well, technically she was _thrown_, but whatever.

Jaime gets up suddenly and she doesn't even have time to react before he's pulling her to her feet and tugging her along, and she threads her fingers between his and squeals a little as they fling themselves into another pile, sending them leaves everywhere.

She feels her hand slipping as she's shifting to find daylight again, but Jaime grips it firmly and, in the back of her mind, she decides that she likes how Jaime holds her hand.

When they've resurfaced, their hands are buried under the leaves between them and Jaime just grins at her.

"What?"

"Nothing," he says with a shrug. "You're just really pretty."

She blushes. Her hair is kind of tangled and there are leaves in it and Jaime just called her _pretty_. She wonders why that makes her feel so giddy.

As he helps her out of the leaves, their joined hands kind of linger like that for a few seconds before she notices the way his ears turn a bit red as he swallows a little and begins to pull it away. She squeezes their fingers together before he can let go, and he's smiling at her when she asks, "Want to carve the pumpkin with me?"


	3. drabble 2

**Pairing:** Kaldur/Raquel with some Conner/Cassie  
**Rating:** K+  
**Word C****ount:** 700+  
**Prompt:** carving pumpkins  
**For:** WideOpenSpacesGirl045

... ...

Raquel squeals as Kaldur drops the pile of pumpkin guts into the large basin beside her and he gives an amused chuckle. "I think you will live," Kaldur tells her, and she sticks her tongue out at him and plops another handful of pulp onto the newspaper so she can pluck out the seeds.

"Maybe, but I feel my fingers pruning."

"You're wearing gloves."

"_Exactly_." He chuckles again and she drops a few more seeds onto the tray. "It's going to take forever to get the pumpkin smell out."

"I like the smell of pumpkin," he says in a nonchalant tone.

She flings a little pulp at him. "Stop trying to contradict me," she laughs, and he leans over and presses a quick kiss to her lips as he says, "Not likely."

Of course.

"Would you like to take a break?" he asks.

Raquel hums in contemplation and then says, "Nah. We only have one more pumpkin left and the sooner we finish hollowing them out, the sooner we can start carving, which is the part I actually _like_ about this." He arches an eyebrow at her and she rolls her eyes. "Okay, _you're_ doing all of the gutting, but we're both wrist-deep in orange gunk so it counts."

"Whatever you say."

She knocks her hip against his, which doesn't really do much, but he chuckles, anyway, and kisses the top of her head.

"Have you decided how you want to carve each pumpkin?"

"Well, I thought we one could be a bat. Or a bat _and _a cat!" He shakes his head, amused. "And Wally looked up a few cool pumpkin ideas. He seemed particularly fond of carving the pumpkin like a face and then putting the pulp so it looks like it's throwing up."

Kaldur wrinkles his nose. "I think we can conveniently forget about that suggestion."

She laughs.

A few hours later, the last batch of pumpkin seeds are baking in the oven as they're starting to carve the fifth and sixth pumpkins. And since these are going to stay in the Cave and only the League and the Team are going to see them, she and Kaldur decided it would be more fun to carve things that related to them. Like, Kaldur actually did carve one of a bat and cat together and he also did a particularly frightening close-up of a monkey's face, and Raquel carved one of ninja couple and another of a Cheshire cat.

"How's the pumpkin-carving?" a voice asks, and Raquel looks over her shoulder as Conner and Cassie are walking into the kitchen.

"Gross," she says, because even though she's wearing gloves that are pretty air-tight, she still feels kind of disgusting. "Want to help us?"

"Sounds like fun," Cassie says, pulling a pair of gloves from the box.

"What is _that?_"

Cassie looks confused, and Raquel laughs as she sees Conner glaring at the monkey pumpkin. He sends his glare at her, and Kaldur stands beside her and smiles in amusement as he answers, "It is a monkey. Do you like it?"

"_No_."

Raquel laughs a little harder, especially when Cassie lets out a giggle and Conner gives her a look that's clearly betrayed.

"Quit being such a baby, Con," Cassie tells him, and he grumbles under his breath.

Kaldur leans over to peck her cheek, and she looks up at him and smiles. "What was that for?"

He shrugs. "Just because."

She smiles wider and leans up press her lips against his, and the sound of Conner and Cassie's playful arguing (seriously, they're _adorable_) fades into the background as they get carried away with the kiss. So much so that Kaldur forgets that his hands are covered in pumpkin guts and he places them at her neck.

She yelps a little as she shivers at the weird sensation.

"I'm sorry," Kaldur mutters quickly, yanking his hands away, "I'm sorry. I did not mean to—"

"Kal, Kal," she interrupts, laughing a little. "It's okay." He frowns a bit, the guilt still apparent on his face. She flashes him a smile and places her hands at his neck, too, smearing pumpkin innards against his skin and down the front of his shirt. "Now we're even."

He smiles, tugs his shirt over his head and drops it to the floor, and Raquel feels her cheeks warm as she bites her lower lip.

"All better," she says, and he chuckles.

"I now know what it feels like to be Conner," he says, and she and Cassie are both laughing really hard as Conner chucks more pumpkin gunk at Kaldur's bare torso.


	4. drabble 3

**Pairing:** Dick/Zatanna  
**Rating: **NC-15ish  
**Word C****ount:** 600+  
**Prompt:** candy apples  
**For:** TwilightLove13

... ...

She was craving caramel earlier, for no apparent reason, and told Dick as much when they met up for lunch. He'd said she's probably just getting a sweet tooth because Halloween's next week and there are treats _everywhere_ you turn.

She can't wait for this holiday to be over.

Not because she hates it—she _loves_ Halloween and so does Dick, and they already began making their costumes for the Wayne Tech party last month—but because she keeps snacking. She doesn't believe in dieting, at all, but she believes in eating healthy, and snacking on the s'mores that her co-workers gave her after lunch does _not_ qualify as healthy.

"_Dick_," she moans when he gets back from work and there's a candy apple from the bakery down the street in his hand. "I hate you."

"I love you, too," he laughs, slanting his lips over hers in a kiss. "Sorry I'm so late."

"That's not why I hate you," she explains, and then points at the offending dessert sitting on their kitchen table. "Clearly you want me to die of a heart attack. Or contract diabetes."

He looks amused. "What?"

"I've had nothing but sweets all day. It's seriously unhealthy."

"It's a _holiday_, 'Tanna." She crosses her arms over her chest, and he pulls her against him and places a kiss to her neck. And that's literally all it takes to feel her (mostly fake) anger towards him completely disappear. It's kind of pathetic, actually. "You worry too much," he says against her skin.

"No I don't." He kisses her pulse and she lets out a noise from the back of her throat. "Stop that. I'm trying to be mad at you."

"Why?"

"Because I treat my body like it's a temple and _you_ are littering on sacred grounds."

He chuckles against her neck, pulling her arms out. "Then tell me how many prayers I have to say," he says between kisses, and she giggles and feebly tries to push him away. He takes her wrists and holds her palms against his chest. "Tell me what to do."

"Don't make any comments when I tell you to cut the apple so we can eat it in the room."

"Okay," he agrees and kisses her lips slowly this time, tasting the dark chocolate-covered cherry from their fridge lingering on her tongue. He hums contentedly.

She smiles and pulls away after a few more seconds. "Can you slice the apple?" she asks. He chuckles and nods. "I'll be waiting."

"I'll be quick," he promises, kissing her cheek.

And he is.

When she walks out of the bathroom, he's in nothing but his boxers as he's setting a plate with the sliced candy apple onto the nightstand. She's just in a black lace bra and the matching panties, but when she reaches for the top drawer where her slip is, he pulls her hand off of the handle and kind of slides into bed, pulling her over him.

She straddles his waist, and they take turns pushing slices past each other's lips and sipping the wine that Bruce and Selina gave them for their anniversary, Dick's free hand tracing imaginary patterns against her skin where it's resting over her thigh.

"So am I forgiven?"

"Yes, you are. Except now it's going to take forever to burn off these calories," she laughs, setting the wine glass back down.

There's a glint in his eyes. "We can always start now," he says cheekily, and she squeals a little when he moves his hand over her waist and ends up getting caramel on her. He rolls her onto her back, though, tugs her panties off and licks that spot clean when her legs are spread and she's moaning his name, so he's probably forgiven for that, too.


	5. drabble 4

**Pairing:** Dick/Artemis  
**Rating: **T?  
**Word C****ount:** 700+  
**Prompt:** sweaters and tree climbing  
**For: **Micchie Bean

... ...

"Dick, it's not that big of a deal."

"Yes, it is," he says simply. "Your sister made you that scarf when you were little, right?"

"Right, but—_Dick!_" she exclaims, her heart skipping a beat in her chest as Dick hooks his foot onto a low branch and practically flings himself up. She looks up at him from the bottom of the trunk and chews her lower lip nervously. She's witnessed Dick do more daring and stupid things than climbing a tree, but he'd also had his utility belt then.

Of course her scarf would be carried by the wind and get caught onto the top of the tallest freaking tree she's ever see.

And of course Dick feels the need to go after it himself.

If he doesn't hurt himself by falling out of this stupid tree, she may kill him.

"I never knew you were afraid of heights," he says with a cackle, swinging himself off of a branch and landing onto another one. "I'll definitely make not of that for later usage."

"I'm not afraid of heights!" she yells over the wind. "I'm afraid of you falling down and dying!"

"Aw, I'm touched!"

"You're such an _ass_," she growls, and she has no idea what compels her to do so, but she grabs onto the branch and hooks her foot, climbing up after him. _God_, if she gets hurt, she _will_ kill him with whatever limbs of hers aren't broken.

She tries to mimic his path, except obviously with less death-defying moves, and feels her arms and legs sort of just taking her higher up without her really trying. She's made climbs a lot higher and riskier than this, too, but she feels so naked without her quiver and the grappling hook crossbow she keeps in there.

He looks down and she can practically see his eyes widen behind his dark shades.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm climbing," she says, except it comes out kind of breathless because she has to pull herself up and onto another branch. "You're not the only one that can climb, you know."

"Yeah, but…" He sounds like he's about to go on, but he trails off. Most of the amusement is gone from his voice, and she definitely takes notice of that.

"What's the matter, Wonder Bread?" she asks. "Afraid I might fall?"

"Don't joke about that, Artemis."

"You joked about it what _I_ said it!" He's only a branch or two above her, and he leans over and extends his hand out. Normally she's probably be way too stubborn and proud to take it, but she's kind of pushing the daredevil thing right now, so she grasps his hand and lets him pull her onto the thick branch he's perched upon.

"Okay, I'm sorry about that," he apologizes, meaning it.

"I can't believe it took me climbing up a tree for you to realize how stupid you were being," she grumbles.

"I wasn't being stupid," he says, and she's about to argue when he reaches up, unwinds the scarf from where it's tangled in the leaves and adds, "This scarf is important to you, right? If it's important to you, it's not stupid it me."

She blushes, which somehow makes her feel even colder when a breeze passes by and makes her shiver. _God_, it's even colder up here than down there.

He straddles the branch to face her and reveals a black thermal underneath his sweater (no _wonder_ he's warm) when he tugs it over his head. He pulls it over her head, and she slips her arms through each sleeve as quickly as possible before latching her hands onto the branch again. To his credit, Dick doesn't laugh one bit at how terrified she actually is right now.

Even if she's still not entirely admitting to herself that she's nervous about being this high up without her usual equipment, but whatever.

He shifts himself closer so that his knees bump against hers, loops her scarf around her neck and grips the material as he smiles at her. "Thanks for climbing after me," he tells her, and despite everything, she smiles back.

"You're welcome."

Then he leans forward and kisses her lips gently, and she forgets to worry about balance or how they're getting down as she grasps his thermal and kisses him a little harder.


	6. drabble 5

**Pairing:** Dick/Zatanna  
**Rating: **K+  
**Word C****ount:** 600+  
**Prompt:** scarecrows  
**For: **pandasrule333

**Note:** (unrelated to this drabble) There were a lot of requests that had to do with leaves, which I'll definitely try to tackle, but I'm afraid I won't fill them all becaise they'll just end up sounding the same. So for those who requested leaf-themed prompts, if you can also suggest a unique alternative prompt so I can still fill something from you, that'd be really great.

... ...

Considering that they go through some really frightening stuff when they're on missions, it's kind of really embarrassing to Zatanna how she terrified of Halloween. You'd think it'd be _her _holiday because of her magic and everything, but she had an awful experience with a very graphic haunted house in her neighborhood when she was little that involved fake blood everywhere and her own screams drowning in with the background soundtrack. She knows _now_ that the whole thing hadn't been real, but the fear never totally went away.

Actually, she's completely convinced that it got worse as she grew up and her classmates got into the scarier stuff. The childish aspects of Halloween—candy and homemade decorations and cute costumes and fun parties—she can handle.

But she _hates_ that she's so terrified of the scary stuff that everyone her age is into, for whatever reason.

When Wally invites them to the Central City Halloween Festival, she actually _flinches._ Halloween festivals always have haunted hay rides.

"We don't have to go, you know," Dick reassures her.

They're sitting on the couch in his room and watching _The Parent Trap_ on TV, because it's the only movie on right now that has nothing to do with the holiday. But even though she's curled against his side with his arms around her, she still flinches at every single sound outside the large windows. _Of course_ it's storming right now.

"No, we should," she says weakly, unconvincingly, and brings the blanket over their shoulders. "It'll probably be fun."

"It won't be if for either of us, 'Tanna. I hate seeing you like this. I feel like there's nothing I can do."

She manages a smile at him, leans up to kiss his cheek before curling against him again. "You're doing everything I need you to do. Thanks for letting me spend the night."

"Of course," he says.

She falls asleep cuddled against him and wakes up on the couch, alone.

"Dick?" she asks, her voice a few octaves higher than usual. _Sound of Music _is playing now and Maria is singing to the kids about thinking about things that make them feel better, and when thunder rumbles in the movie, she lets out a soft yelp because she thinks it was from outside. "Dick?" she asks again.

The door bursts open—she jumps at that, too—and Dick is suddenly there, kneeling next to her as his eyes instinctively check for any harm.

"Where were you?" Her eyes swell a little and she feels a lump in her throat. _God_, she feels pathetic.

"I'm sorry," he mutters, and she shifts to make room for him and lets him pull her into his arms again. "I didn't mean to leave you for… I left the light on in case you woke up again, but—"

"No, I… I'm sorry, Dick," she apologizes shakily, swallowing a little. "I didn't mean to snap. But, um… Where did you go?"

"I went to grab this from the other room," he says, holding up a cloth scarecrow doll with a cartoonish smile. She furrows her eyebrows as he places it in her hands. "I was kind of secretly terrified after my encounter with some of the Gotham villains when I first started, so Alfred would make me these like, cartoon dolls of them."

She smiles a little. "Why?"

"I don't know. I guess he thought it would help," Dick shrugs, "and it did. I thought you could use this one of Scarecrow, since it's the only Halloween-related one I had."

And she actually _giggles_, hugging the doll between them as he pulls the blanket back over them. "This is really sweet," she tells him, and he grins, says that he's glad she likes it before pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

She dresses up like a witch for the festival and carries the Scarecrow doll with her as she laces her fingers with Dick's. None of the others ask about the doll, but Wally does a double-take when he first sees it and then gives Dick a knowing smile before setting an arm around Artemis and asking the others where they want to go first.


	7. drabble 6

**Pairing:** Wally/Artemis  
**Rating: **T  
**Word C****ount:** 600+  
**Prompt:** scented candles  
**For: **Insomniatic95

... ...

It's been unseasonably stormy lately, or at least she doesn't remember it being like this last year.

The rain's coming down so hard that it sounds like millions of pebbles are being thrown against her windows, and the thin walls of the apartment don't do much to stifle the howling wind and rolls of thunder. And she thinks she loves storms. She's definitely not scared of them, anyway, and finds it really peaceful to be home alone in the middle of one.

But she doesn't mind her company this time around, either.

"I found some," she announces, flashlight in one hand and a few candles in the other.

Wally smiles at her from the couch. "Awesome."

She sets them down on the table, walks over to the kitchen and pulls out a box of matches that he catches when she tosses it towards him. Once he's got them lit, she flicks off the flashlight and sets it down on the table as he's plopping himself back onto the couch.

She shivers a little – the building's pretty old and when it's windy outside, there's a draft inside – and wraps her arms around herself.

"Should I grab a blanket?"

"Why, when you have me?" he asks, laughing when she rolls her eyes. But, whatever, having a boyfriend that's his own space-heater has its conveniences.

He exaggeratedly spreads his arms out and she grins, letting him pull her onto his lap with her legs tucked underneath her and his arms hugging her to his chest. She immediately feels warmer, and the sudden change in temperature sends goose bumps over her skin. He chuckles; he's always telling her that her body's freezing cold compared to his.

"Sorry the power went out during our thriller movie marathon," he says suddenly, like it's his fault that it's storming outside.

She shrugs a little. "I'm not." He gives her a look. "Have I ever told you how much I love blackouts?"

"No," he laughs. "You're even weirder than I thought, which is _saying_ something, babe." She frowns and pretends to try and twist out of his arms, except he's laughing against and hugging her tighter which, okay, she doesn't hate at all. "I love your weirdness."

She smiles. "I love your weirdness, too."

He grasps her chin with his fingers and kisses the bridge of her nose. She pretends to make a face, but she's smiling widely, so she doesn't think it's convincing.

He tilts her head a little and places another kiss to the top of her head, then inhales deeply. She stifles a giggle (speaking of _weird…_), bearing an amused expression that he can't see as she asks, "What're you doing?"

"Smelling you," he says like it should be obvious and isn't strange at all. "You smell like cinnamon."

"It's the candles."

"What?"

She nods at the candles on the table and says, "They're cinnamon-scented. It was the scent my dad always got for my mom. You know, when they were still together."

"That's sweet," he says, meaning it, and she nods. It is. Or, at least, it _was_. Then he looks at her and adds, "But I really think it's you. You've always smelt like cinnamon to me. And your lips"—he pecks her lips, quickly swiping his tongue against them—"have always tasted like cinnamon, too. It's addicting."

She arches an eyebrow. "You're addicted to cinnamon?"

"It's a sexy taste," he says, and she laughs. Then he says, "And like, when you have frosting on your lips, you taste like cinnamon rolls," and she's laughing even harder.

"Stop that!"

"But it's true!" She can hear him grinning. "So, can I have another taste or…?"

"It's cute that you think you have to ask," she teases, and he chuckles against her lips and kisses her again. The wind howls, and they're a little too preoccupied to notice a draft blow out the flames of most of their candles as it pushes the scent of cinnamon around the room.


	8. drabble 7

**Pairing:** Wally/Artemis  
**Rating: **T  
**Word C****ount:** 900+  
**Prompt:** Thanksgiving dinner gone wrong  
**For: **DGMSilverAirHead03

... ...

"Baby, I'm—"

"Don't even talk to me right now, Wallace."

He cringes and shuts up instantly. (Not only did she pull out _Wallace_, but her tone is like _venom._ He's not stupid enough to keep talking.)

Artemis sighs loudly and shoves the shower curtains back, twisting the hot water on. He turns to look back at the bathroom mirror and makes a face at what he sees. They managed to get off most of the food that had been caked onto their skin, but they still look like a disaster. There's stuffing in her hair and bits of mashed potato still in his.

Naturally, this is his fault.

Well, not _directly_, but this time he'll admit that his suggestion probably could've been more thought-out.

Things had already been kind of tense between Paula and Jade, because Jade decided to show her face to her mother again but didn't come home like Paula wanted her to, since she has Lian and Roy and they've got their own apartment in Star City and everything. But apparently they still planned to have Thanksgiving together and Artemis was telling him how much she dreaded it. He wanted to be there with her but at the same time, he didn't want to miss his own family's dinner, so he figured inviting Artemis's family could solve that.

He should've just listened to Dick when he'd said it was a horrible idea.

Everything had been just fine for the hour or so when they'd been waiting for his grandparents to come, and everyone seemed to get along just fine. His mother adored Lian, of course, and Roy was chatting with Paula and his dad while he and Artemis were talking with Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris.

Then Ollie and Dinah showed up and it all kind of just went downhill from there. Ollie doesn't exactly approve of Jade, which of course upset Paula and gave Roy a new reason to be pissed at him after they'd sort of talked out all of their other stuff. And then it strained Ollie and Dinah because Dinah was on Jade's side and didn't like that Ollie wasn't being understanding or something. Then Aunt Iris was a bit peeved with Uncle Barry because he invited Ollie and Dinah knowing that everyone would be uncomfortable.

And then of course Wally's grandparents come and are totally oblivious to all of the tension when they sit down to eat, which somehow makes it worse because they all have to tiptoe around them. Wally's not exactly sure what set it off specifically, but there were snide comments being passed around and…

Yeah, it was just all bad.

Then Lian starts throwing a tantrum for no apparent reason (although Wally's entirely convinced it was _because_ of their tension, because kids can sense stuff like that, can't they?) while his grandma is carrying her, and she hits a few dishes and ends up getting food all over Artemis, Wally, and his grandparents.

"Come here," Artemis orders, and he does. He sits on the edge of the tub as she does and leans his head over when she pulls the showerhead off. The water's kind of scalding hot against his scalp as she's rinsing the mashed potatoes out of his hair, but he doesn't point that out.

"I'm sorry about today, Artemis," he tells her instead.

"Mmm."

"I didn't think… Well, I kind of hoped it wouldn't be as bad as it was. I'm sorry," he repeats.

She exhales. "It's okay."

He holds the showerhead away, ignoring the water that runs down his neck and onto his shirt as he lifts his head to meet her eyes. "No, it's not, because you're holding back. You never hold anything back from me. You should be pissed!"

"I'm not.

"Yes, you are!" he exclaims, gesturing to her, "You're just bottling it up. Why are you doing that?"

"You _want_ me to be pissed at you?"

"I'd rather you take it out on me than keeping it all inside," he says, and there's a whole second of total silence where she's just staring at him, unreadable.

Then she punches his arm _hard_. "I can't _believe_ you put me through that, Wallace!" she practically shouts. He rubs his throbbing skin and smiles. "I'm going to slap that smile off of your face if you think this is funny. I told you that if we tried to force everyone together that it was going to blow up in our faces and what happened?"

"Lian threw Thanksgiving dinner in our faces," he answers with a grin.

"Why are you _smiling?_"

"Because it's kind of funny." She _glares_ at him. "Okay, not entirely funny, but it was a _little bit_, right?" he asks, holding his thumb and index finger an inch apart for emphasis. "My grandparents were like, completely unaware of all the arguing. And have you ever seen them try to argue discreetly like that? Come on. It was _hilarious_. And just _look_ at us!"

"You need to be checked into an asylum," she sighs, but the corner of her lips is turned up in a slight smile.

"I'm just doing what I do best." She raises an eyebrow and he adds, "Making you smile after I've royally screwed up."

"Well, you _have_ had a lot of practice," she says, but she's laughing a little this time, pretending to drench him with the water still running out of the showerhead. Not that it would make much of a difference, but whatever.

"I really am sorry that this happened, though." He shrugs. "I just wanted you to have a good Thanksgiving with a kind of normal dinner."

"Yeah, well, the only thing that could've made it worse was if my dad showed up, but… It was a really sweet thought, Wally."

"So I'm _Wally_ again?" he asks with a grin.

"Just shut up and let me rinse the side dish out of your hair, West."

He laughs.


	9. drabble 8

**Pairing:** Dick/Zatanna  
**Rating: **T  
**Word C****ount:** 800+  
**Prompt:** bonfire, but it ended up just being a campfire  
**For: **themiller

**Note: **(unrelated to this drabble) How do you guys feel about me doing drabble memes? Do you like them? Any suggestions? Should I not do them anymore?

... ...

"You're _insane_."

"Please don't tell me that you're bailing when we're already here."

"Are you kidding? Of course we're still doing it!" He laughs. "But you're still insane," she adds, flashing him a smile. Her perfect, pearly white teeth are practically luminescent in the moonlight, as if she needed another thing about her that he loves. Maybe he'll tell her that, too, someday.

"Then why'd you agree to it?" he asks playfully.

"I'm pretty insane myself." He grins at her, and she leans over the dock a little to stare at their reflection against the dark water. "We'll be _freezing_."

"It'll be fun."

She laughs, and when he holds out his hand, she laces their fingers together and squeezes. They're probably just going to wake everyone up as soon as they hit the water, but whatever. The others were the ones that wanted to go camping before winter hit, and if he wants to jump into a lake in the middle of the night with Zatanna, he's going to.

"Let's go before the reasonable part of my brain convinces me that this is a terrible idea."

He nods, says, "One… two…"

"Three!"

And they jump.

Their hands stay joined even after they hit the water. It feels like he got caught in a Gotham rainstorm, except water's hitting him from every direction instead of wind.

The first thing he hears when he resurfaces is her voice. "This is the worst idea you've ever had!" she shrieks.

"That's just the cold talking," he shouts back, even though he's convinced he just instantaneously lost all of the feeling in his body. She splashes water over his head and giggles, and his laugh comes out quivering because he's freezing. Like, his body is seriously numb right now, and he'll bet that it'll be even colder as soon as they get out of the water.

Maybe they should've thought this out more. Or, _he_ could've thought this out more.

"Are you guys _insane?_" a voice yells, and he looks up to find Raquel making her way down the small dock. "You guys could get seriously sick by doing this!"

Zatanna furrows her eyebrows. "Were you watching us?"

"Kaldur and I woke up by all the noise you two were making," Raquel explains. "We didn't think you'd _actually_ jump!"

"Clearly you don't know us very well," he says, earning him a glare, but then Kaldur is making his way over with a pile in his arms and Raquel seems to push away whatever threats that are bubbling to the surface of her mind.

_God_, blankets have never looked so warm before…

"I take it this was Dick's idea," Kaldur says. Dick grins and Kaldur's lip curves upward in amusement, which is kind of surprising. But really, because ever since Raquel joined the Team and even before they admitted they were together, he'd learned how to be more relaxed. And apparently according to Icon, Raquel is not as easily tempered as she used to be.

They're really good together.

Anyway, Kaldur pulls Zatanna out of the water first and then him, and he wraps Dick in one robe, and then another, and then drapes a towel over his shoulders as Raquel is doing the same to Zatanna. It's still freezing cold, but it already feels better than being in the water.

Kaldur or Raquel must've relit their campfire from a few hours ago, because it's burning brightly between their campsite and the lake as they start walking back.

He and Zatanna sit down huddled together on one log, drying their feet off so they can put a few layers of socks on while Kaldur checks on the fire while Raquel wraps Zatanna's wet hair in towel. Then she disappears back into the tent and emerges with two more blankets, drapes one across both of their laps and another over both of their shoulders.

He's still cold, but he can feel the heat of the fire against his skin as it slowly warms the layers he's bundled in and thinks he may be beginning to get back the feeling in his toes.

"Well, since we're already awake, we might as well make more s'mores," Raquel says. "Please don't do anything else while we go get the stuff."

Zatanna sticks her tongue out, which earns her a chuckle from Kaldur before he follows Raquel around the tents.

"I'm still freezing cold," Zatanna laughs, teeth chattering.

"It was worth it," he says. She gives him a smile and nods softly. "Thanks for jumping in with me."

She shrugs a little, which is barely visible underneath all of the layers, and then shifts to lean herself against his side. "I'd do a lot of stupid stuff just for you," she says. It sounds like a promise and he doesn't mind it at all. He just loves spending time with her.

But it's still awesome when it involves stupid stuff.


	10. drabble 9

**Pairing:** Jaime/Cassie  
**Rating: **K+  
**Word C****ount:** 700+  
**Prompt:** scarf  
**For: **sweetcoffee-and-saturdays

... ...

She says yes when he asks her out on a date, because he really is sweet and he makes her laugh and they're friends, but she does also kind of like him like _that_.

And technically this "date" is a protection detail for the ambassador of South Korea that Gamma Squad—she, Jaime, La'gaan, Babs, and Dick; Gar, Megan and Conner have this mission off, much to La'gaan's chagrin—has to go on. But they're posing as citizens just enjoying the park and he asked to be with her when he didn't have to, so she thinks that counts.

"Do you want some hot chocolate?" he asks her as they're walking.

On the path, a little boy and his mother pass them, sharing a cup of hot chocolate. She smiles. "You don't have to—"

"Let's get some hot chocolate."

"Jaime—"

But he's already taking her hand in his and tugging him towards the cart with an elderly man selling hot chocolate, vanilla lattes and warm apple cider. "Two please," he says, and the man gives them a wrinkled smile and pours them two cups.

When Jaime tries to hand him a $5, though, the man just puts their drinks in their heads and says, "On the house for the young couple."

They both blush at that.

She doesn't even burn her tongue on the first sip, and she feels like she really is just drinking melted chocolate. She can taste a little bit of cinnamon and whipped cream, too, and an appreciative noise slips from the back of her throat as she licks her lips. She's already feeling so much warmer now.

"Are you hungry, too?" he asks, eyes scanning the park for another vendor. "Someone's selling cinnamon pretzels over there."

She laughs. "Thank you, Jaime, but I'm alright. I was actually just a little cold."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't have any money on me," she admits. "I'll pay you back, by the way. Or, I would if he, um, actually let us pay…"

He chuckles. "Even if he did make us pay, I wouldn't let you pay me back," he tells her. "It wouldn't be much of a date if I let you pay for me. I mean," he adds quickly when she smirks a little and raises an eyebrow, "not that only guys can—"

"You know I can kick your butt any day of the week, right?" she interrupts.

And he's not even embarrassed as he answers, "Yeah."

"Then you can stick to as many dating clichés as you'd like as long as you keep that in mind," she tells him matter-of-factly, and smiles when he laughs.

"Okay," he agrees, tapping their drinks together before they both take another sip. "I like that."

"You like dating clichés?"

"That doesn't matter much to me," he admits with a shrug of his shoulders. "But I like that agreement because it means that we get to have another date, right?"

She smiles widely at him and nods, taking another sip of hot chocolate.

A breeze blows by and she shivers a little. Over their earpieces, Dick and Barbara are arguing about some sort of pool game. She's drinking more of her hot chocolate as she watches the kids play on the structure a few feet away, running around and laughing while they're chasing each other. Somehow it reminds her of training sessions at the Cave.

"Hey, Jaime, do you remember when…" But she trails off, turning to look beside her only to realize that he isn't there. She blinks. "Jaime?"

"Hey," his voice says from her other side, and she yelps a little, nearly dropping her drink. "Sorry."

"Where'd you go?"

"You're cold, right?" he asks, and when he reaches for her hair, she can't help the blush that spreads warms her cheeks.

But then she feels him push her hair aside, pulling something against her skin, and she looks down to see him wrapping a scarf around her. It's blue and black with white snowflakes on it, and he ties it into this bow at her neck.

She smiles widely, meeting his eyes. "Do you like it?" he asks.

"I love it," she says.

He blushes but returns her smile, and as they begin walking down the path again, she threads their fingers together and lets herself forget about the mission, if only for a little while.


	11. drabble 10

**Pairing:** Dick/Zatanna and Wally/Artemis, a little Damian/Lian and Jayden/Maria  
**Rating: **K+  
**Word C****ount:** 600+  
**Prompt:** tick-or-treating  
**For: **violingirl56

**Note:** Part of my Family 'verse.

... ...

Maria decided what she wanted to be for Halloween in the middle of August. Alfred handmade her Little Red Riding Hood costume because he refused to let her wear something that was bought from the store, and they got her a basket and tied red ribbons to the handles to match.

She curls the ends of Maria's hair, tucks them underneath her hood and puts the cookies they individually wrapped for the other kids into her basket.

They take the kids trick-or-treating in Star City because, from personal experience, it's the friendliest one to be in. There are cute decorations on almost every house and everyone in this neighborhood seems to know Wally and Artemis and the kids from block parties and whatnot, so it's nice to feel that the kids will be fairly safe knocking on people's doors.

They've already hit a few houses and the kids seem to be getting along fine.

They're walking in this big group only a few feet from their parents, already discussing what they want to trade each other.

Except for Maria's cookies, of course, which Jayden declared as she was passing them out was off-limits to trade. Maria giggled a little and Dick nudged Zatanna's arm, raised an eyebrow in amusement but otherwise said nothing at that.

(Yeah, she knows.)

At the very front of the group, Lian (dressed as Black Widow) and Damian (Iron Man) are arguing about which one of the characters their costumes are after would win in a fight, and in front of them, she can see a house with a little scarier decorations coming up. It's namely the plastic wolves she's worried about.

Maria is kind of scared around dogs, especially some of the bigger ones and sometimes it gets so bad that she starts whimpering a little.

Neither of them is really sure where it came from, since she's totally fine with Wally and Artemis's dog, Bolt, when she goes over to their house. She, Jayden, and Ellie even chase him around sometimes, but Dick thinks it's probably because she grew up already knowing Bolt.

Maria looks up as they're coming to the house, and she stops walking.

Jayden stops, too. "It's okay," he tells her. (Ironically enough, he's dressed up like a little werewolf boy.)

Maria hugs her basket a little tighter. "I think I'll stay here," she admits, watching as the others are already following Lian and Damian towards the house.

"By yourself?"

"I'll be with our parents," she reminds, glancing back and meeting her mother's eyes. Zatanna smiles and wants to catch up, but something tells her to just wait.

Jayden looks like he's about to leave to join the others as Damian is already knocking on the door, but then he takes Maria's hand in his and pulls her back towards them. He uses his free hand to grasp Zatanna's, asking, "Auntie 'Tanna, can you take us to the next house?"

Maria's smiling widely at Jayden and Zatanna laughs. "Of course."

"Mommy, can you come with us and Auntie 'Tanna?" he asks, turning to Artemis.

Artemis meets Zatanna's gaze. "Of course," she replies too, her son missing the amusement on her face as he turns back to Maria and keeps walking. "Looks like we're going to be in-laws," Artemis says to Dick before linking her arm with Zatanna's, and they jog a little to walk a few paces behind their kids.

"Thanks, Jay," Maria tells him.

Jayden smiles at her. "You're more fun to trick-or-treat with, anyway."

And she and Artemis watch as Maria lean up and kiss Jayden's cheek before pulling quickly pulling away, their hands still joined between them.

"They're so adorable," Artemis sighs softly, and Zatanna just laughs in agreement.


	12. drabble 11

**Pairing:** Wally/Artemis and Barry/Iris  
**Rating: **T  
**Word C****ount:** 800+  
**Prompt:** Iris and Artemis bonding over Thanksgiving dinner  
**For: **My Own Mayday Parade. Happy birthday!

... ...

"I have a feeling I'm not doing this right."

Iris laughs, "You're just making mashed potatoes, Artemis. I'm pretty sure you're doing fine."

"I doubt it's supposed to be this lumpy," Artemis sighs, setting the potato masher aside. She can already tell that muscle in her arm will be sore in the morning. _God_, she needs to start lifting more weights or something before she lets all of those years of training and kicking butt go to waste.

"The awesome thing about dating a speedster, Artemis," Iris begins to say, making Artemis look at her, "is that they love food so much, they could care less if it's perfect."

Artemis does laugh this time. "True," she agrees, and remembers a story Megan told her about burnt cookies and Wally nearly finishing the whole tray.

He's absolutely insane.

"That's great, then, because I am _not_ adept in the kitchen," Artemis tells her.

"He'll think it's perfect as long as it's from you."

Artemis feels her cheeks warm. "This coming from the woman who deserves her own _Food Network_ show," she teases.

Iris chuckles. "I've had _lots_ of practice in order to achieve that status," she tells her. "But I actually had no idea how to cook before I met Barry." Artemis raises her eyebrows and Iris smiles knowingly. "It sounds crazy, right?"

"More like impossible," Artemis says. "I don't believe you."

"Well, it's true," Iris insists. "When I was a freshman in college, I got by on instant noodles, anything you could make with a microwave, and whatever minimum wage and tips from the café across the street from campus could afford. That's actually how I met Barry. It was late lunchtime and his friends were the noisiest table and I was their waitress."

Artemis smiles widely. "Please don't tell me he asked for your number while you were taking their orders."

"No," she corrects, "It was after I took their orders. My manager actually asked me to tell them to quiet down, so when I was walking over, I ran into Barry on his way back from the bathroom. He gave me his number and I totally forgot to tell them to be quiet."

"What did your manager say?"

"He scolded me." Artemis laughs. "But Barry came by at lunch the next day right as I was starting my shift. He was alone and ate _a lot_ and stayed at his table for almost two hours, not looking like he was going to leave anytime soon. As I was going on my break, I was told to ask him to leave and when I walked over there, he asked if I was done with my shift yet."

"He'd been waiting for you the entire time he was there?"

"Yup," Iris answers. "He asked me out to dinner later that night, and when he found out that I couldn't cook, he actually looked a little heartbroken."

"So you learned to cook just for him?" Artemis asks, and Iris grins and nods. "How come I've never heard this story before?"

Iris shrugs. "I guess it just never came up."

"Well, it's one of my new favorites about you two," Artemis tells her.

"My favorite about you and Wally is the one he told me about you singing nursery rhymes to little kids that night the world was split," Iris says, and Artemis laughs at the memory. "He said he thought it was kind of adorable that you weren't singing them correctly."

"He'd also thought that I was doing it on purpose and then was very shocked when he learned I really didn't know any."

"Then he told me that you learned them just so you could sing them correctly to the kids afterward," Iris goes on. "And don't rat me out when I say this, but," Iris adds, causing Artemis to meet her eyes, "Wally told me that had been the first night he had pictured himself having a future with you, even if it was just a fleeting thought."

Artemis feels her cheeks warm again. "He told you that?"

Iris nods. "He said it wasn't the first time you dreamt of you," she explains, and Artemis rolls her eyes playfully, "but that it was the first time that felt different from the others."

Artemis smiles, but as she's about to say something, the door almost literally bursts open.

Suddenly Barry and Wally are standing in the kitchen and laughing about something, and as soon as Barry sees Iris, Artemis almost looks away because she feels like she's intruding on a private moment. "Hi, baby," Barry says, cupping her cheeks in his hands as he kisses her gently, sweetly.

"Hey, babe," Wally greets, wrapping his arms around Artemis's waist from behind and kissing her temple. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Just girl stuff."

Wally arches an eyebrow, and before he can ask another question, Artemis scoops some mashed potatoes onto a spoon. He automatically opens his mouth so she can feed it to him, and smiles when he makes an appreciative groan from the back of his throat. "It's _amazing_. Did you make it?" he asks.

She nods. "Do you like it?"

"Of course I do," he laughs, and then kisses her cheek. "It's perfect."


End file.
